DCCCD Students Get 2-for-1 in New Agreement With UTD

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For immediate release - Oct. 25, 2006

(DALLAS) – Students attending the Dallas County Community College District will be able to transfer seamlessly to the University of Texas at Dallas and enjoy two-for-one concurrent enrollment because DCCCD and UTD officials have signed a new dual admissions agreement. The district's students also will be able to freeze the cost of their tuition for four years, beginning in fall 2007, under the new agreement.

The partnership was formalized Tuesday, Oct. 24, during an articulation agreement signing at DCCCD’s downtown district office. Dr. Wright Lassiter, DCCCD chancellor, and Dr. David E. Daniel, president of UTD, participated.

Both educators emphasized the critical role that community college students have played in UTD's enrollment history and that the benefits they receive from attending both DCCCD and UTD will affect their earning potential and professional careers.

“DCCCD continues to seek new partners in higher education so that we can offer our students more options for their educational and professional growth,” said Lassiter. “We welcome the University of Texas at Dallas as a partner with our district. Some DCCCD students – particularly those who attend Richland – already enjoy the benefits of similar agreements with UTD for specific academic fields at the college level. We are excited about the additional opportunities that this agreement provides for all DCCCD students.”

He added, “DCCCD's Rising Star program and UTD’s ‘Comet Connection’ will enhance our students’ options in college and beyond. This joint venture is really a boon to both students and their parents, who will be able to plan better for the cost of a college education with assurances that the tuition rate will not increase for four years.”

Daniel said, “DCCCD students who transfer to UTD historically do as well as or better than those students who begin their college careers with us as freshmen. Respect for those transfer students is at the heart of this (transfer) agreement because of the history we have shared with DCCCD.”

The UTD president added, “We want those students to earn their baccalaureate degrees and also to address the issue of college affordability. The ‘Comet Connection’ helps us accomplish both goals, and the new tuition guarantee we offer - effective fall 2007 - will benefit DCCCD students who concurrently enroll and then transfer to UTD.”

Under the terms of the new DCCCD/UTD dual enrollment agreement, the district’s students attend one of DCCCD’s seven colleges, enroll concurrently at UTD and transfer seamlessly to the university from DCCCD; those students who meet UTD’s admission requirements or who complete their associate degrees will receive automatic admission to UTD if they have at least a 2.5 cumulative grade point average.

The objectives of the agreements are:

to attract qualified students from DCCCD to UTD

to ensure the efficient and orderly movement (or transfer) of students from DCCCD to UTD as students continue to advance their studies

to provide specific advising for DCCCD students who transfer to UTD, especially those who are concurrently enrolled at both institutions

to allow a “seamless transition” for DCCCD students to UTD

to establish academic and administrative coordination between the two schools

Concurrently enrolled DCCCD students will receive benefits from UTD that include:

access to the Pre-Health Resource Center

an invitation to participate in both pre-health and pre-law activities and sponsored events (and regular meetings with UTD advisors in those areas at least once each semester on a DCCCD campus)

Comet cards, which enable students to use the UTD libraries

the right to purchase tickets to athletic and other selected events on UTD’s campus at the student guest rate

the right to participate in the university’s guaranteed tuition program

the opportunity to apply for designated UTD scholarships if the DCCCD student meets the university’s transfer scholarship criteria

an opportunity to apply for admission to UTD’s honors program when the qualified DCCCD student has a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better on all college work

For more information about the DCCCD/UTD agreement, contact Gregory Williams, DCCCD director of transfer services, articulation and university relations, at (214) 860-2185.